Whereas writing a wide-ranging history of Windows Minesweeper for Boss Battle Books in 2023, I ended up taking part in many variations of Microsoft’s beloved authentic sport. These embody versions with hexagonal tiles, versions with weird board shapes, and variations that extend Minesweeper into four dimensions or more, to call just some.
Every one of these variants messed just a little an excessive amount of with the cautious stability of simplicity, readability, reasoning, and luck that made the unique Minesweeper so addictive. None of them grew to become video games I return to day after day.
However then I stumbled onto Dragonsweeper, a free browser-based sport that indie developer Daniel Benmergui launched unceremoniously on itch.io final month. Within the weeks since I found it, the sport has turn out to be my newest puzzle obsession, filling in a worrying proportion of my spare moments with its addictive, easy RPG-tinged tackle the Minesweeper formulation.
Exploresweeper
Like Minesweeper earlier than it, Dragonsweeper is a sport about deducing hidden info primarily based on the restricted info you’ll be able to already see on the grid. However the numbers you reveal in Dragonsweeper do not merely inform you the quantity of threats on adjoining squares. As an alternative, the “numbers are sum of monster energy,” as the sport’s cryptic “Monsternomicon” explains. So a revealed sq. with a “14” may counsel two 7-power devils close by or two 5-power slimes and a 4-power ogre, and even seven 2-power bats in a very bizarre randomized association.
Destroying these monsters means consuming into your avatar Jorge’s well being whole, which is prominently displayed within the bottom-left nook. Jorge’s well being can safely go right down to zero hearts with out dying—which feels a bit counter-intuitive at first—and might be restored by utilizing found well being potions or by leveling up with gold gathered from downed monsters and objects. For those who can stage up sufficient with out dying, you may have the well being essential to defeat the titular dragon sitting in the midst of the board and win the sport.